By Robsta
So we pick up catching the train to Xi'an, in the Shaanxi Provence. We were booked on the overnight train, and were told it was a 4 bed hard sleeper. We had done our homework here, and so knew about the sleeper class, but as we boarded the train, we realized that we had a 6 bed sleepers, as we had the top bunks!! Now this is normally a good thing
, as it's probably the safest bunk to get, and you don't have everyone sitting and eating on it before they go to bed!! However, in a 6 bed hard sleeper, the top bunk has less space, and your right up against the AC. So with my legs sticking out, I take of my smelly shoes to reveal my even smellier feet, and hope that everyone will leave the carriage free for us.NO CHANCE MATE!! These guys are used to smells worse than my feet, and they are nothing in comparison. I am reliably told that I kept the carriage up with my snoring!!! Well, I didn't sleep that well, so I had to share that with everyone too, don't ya think!!
The hard sleeper was exactly that.....hard!! But it could have been worse. The sheets were clean, and that's all I could have really asked for. So we arrive in Xi'an, and are picked up by the hostel staff, free of charge, and taken to our hostel.
The hostel, the SHUYUAN, is slap bang in the centre of Xi'an, hidden around the corner of the south gate of the old city wall. Xi'an itself was a far cry from Beijing. Not as many people, not as much traffic, although the pollution was still very obvious. The hostel on the other hand was even better!! I cannot believe that the state of this hostel was as good as some of the hotels i have been in. The rooms were snazzy, with en suit bathroom, and power shower, the main dining room was weird, kinda bohemian, which was very out of place, and it had a downstairs bar, fully equipped with pool table and kareoke!!!!
The main attraction in Xi'an is the Terracotta warriors, but there is more to Xi'an than that. The city was in fact the first capital, until it was moved to Beijing during the Qin dynasty. There is also a strong Muslim presence here, and this is typified by the great mosque, and the Muslim quarters, which is a section of the city which has a Muslim feel, and run by the Chinese Muslim community. 
We take a guided tour, provided by our hostel, to the terracotta factory, Bampo Neolithic village, which was an enthralling insight into early Chinese Neolithic civilization. The toold they used, the currency, the housing, and the sacrificial and burial habits. In fact some of the skeletons still remain on show for the public.
Many of these tours take you through factories in an attempt to part you from your money even further. The guides get a commission if you buy anything from them, so there's something in it from them, but it gets a bit obvious and a bit annoying after a while!!
We finally get to the place where the terracotta warriors were found and held, and anticipation shuddered through us all. There was an obvious feeling that this was what we were all impatiently waiting for, and the time had now come.
The Warriors were built by the first emperor Qin, as he thought that he would be able to rule in the afterlife, and therefore wanted an army to take with him. He employed 4000 men, and it took 40 years to build them out of clay apparently only found in the Qinling mountains!! Unfortunately he was also a nasty man, and his people turned on him, and he was killed. The terracotta warriors were smashed up and buried, along with the emperor, and were found centauries later, by a peasant man called , who was digging a well for water. What was found was probably the greatest find of the centaury, and many hold it as the 8th wonder of the world!! 
They were found all smashed up, and they have been painstakingly put back together by hand. Each warrior has a different face. They are divided into cavalry, archers, horsemen, generals and emperors. There are 3 pit which hold separate groups of warriors, but alas pit 2 was closed for renovation (bloody Olympics again!!!). Pit 3 hold some of the warriors and some horses, and this was our first stop, after watching a magical surround sound video of the history of the warriors.
PIT 3 was amazing, as they are literally in a pit. There's not many of them, but
there is still that feeling of awe, as people clamor to take that perfect picture. There are many broken pieces, and some without heads, but the real puncher was to come in pit 1.
As we enter PIT 1, the enormity of the pit causes you to stop for a second and just make sure you are not dreaming. The place is huge, and there's that faint cloud of dust that lines the whole hall. Imagine if you will, the rays of sun shining through the window of an old warehouse. You can see the fine silt and dust flying through the air, unsettled with an antique smell. WOW!!! It's just breathtaking!!!
The whole auditorium is not full with warriors, as you may expect. In fact there's a large portion that does not hold any warriors at all, and looks almost as if they are still digging. The amazing thing is that there are still more to find. LOTS MORE!! I am old by our guide that they have recently found a 4th pit, but this is not open to the public yet. Imagine the excitement of the find. These clay warriors, that are so detailed in structure, and have managed to survive (somewhat) for centuries underground. They have, unsurprisingly, lost all of their famed color, but the actual structures remain. 8 of them having been touring Europe, allowing people to see for themselves the rarity of these specimens. But we get to see the real thing, and it is a life experience that will never leave us.
I spend that night getting drunk with other travelers in the hostel bar, as Carmen nurses her cold but getting an early night. I should have done the same, because we had to be up by 04:45 the next day, to catch the plane to Chendu, our next stop on our Chinese adventure....
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